Reaction chamber for a chemical reactor, and chemical reactor constructed therefrom

ABSTRACT

A reaction chamber for a chemical reactor comprises a casing (100) of the reaction chamber, a floor (200) of the reaction chamber having an opening (300) located in the floor, an agitator shaft (400) located in the chamber and having at least one agitator element (500), connected thereto, wherein the agitator shaft (400), seen in the longitudinal direction, has a beginning (600) and an end (700). In the opening (300) of the floor (200) a removable sleeve (800) is provided, which projects out of the reaction chamber. The sleeve (800) is arranged in alignment with the axis of rotation of the agitator shaft (400). The internal diameter of the sleeve (800) is greater than the diameter of the agitator shaft (400) and the agitator shaft (400), at the beginning (600) thereof and/or at the end (700) thereof, is adapted to absorb reversibly a torque provided by means of a further shaft and/or to transmit a torque to a further shaft. Using such a reaction chamber, it is possible to build up modular chemical reactors having decreased backmixing.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a § 371 National State Application ofPCT/EP2015/063266, filed Jun. 15, 2015, which claims priority toEuropean Application No. 10 2014 108 407.1 filed Jun. 16, 2014.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The work which led to this invention was funded in accordance with thegrant agreement No. 246461 in the course of the seventh frameworkprogram of the European Union (FP7/2007-2013).

Description of Related Art

The present invention relates to a reaction chamber for a chemicalreactor, comprising a casing of the reaction chamber, a floor of thereaction chamber having an opening located in the floor and an agitatorshaft located in the chamber and having at least one agitator element,connected thereto. The invention further relates to a chemical reactorwhich comprises a multiplicity of reaction chambers according to theinvention, and also a process for carrying out chemical reactions insuch a reactor.

For many chemical apparatuses, it is advantageous to combine a goodmixing with a narrow residence time distribution in a continuous mode ofoperation. Advantages of the good mixing are, for example, the reductionof mass transfer resistances, a more rapid homogenization or thesuspension of solids.

A narrow residence time distribution frequently permits a higher productquality and a higher space-time yield. The advantages of a continuousmode of operation include, inter alia, stabilization of product quality,higher resource efficiency, shorter set-up times, a higher degree ofautomation and lower hold-up volumes.

Possible applications to which said requirement profile can apply arecontinuous processing of single- or multiphase liquids, dispersions,gas-liquid mixtures, supercritical fluids or mixtures of said materialsin various process engineering apparatuses such as chemical orbiological reactors, and also apparatuses for absorption, extraction orcrystallization.

In many chemical processes, in addition, the achievable heat exchange isa parameter to be taken into account. Microstructured apparatuses hereoffer the possibility of achieving very high specific heat exchangesurface areas. On account of the low volume thereof, however, they arenot suitable for reactions having a long residence time if a certainthroughput is to be achieved. In addition, the risk of fouling andblocking due to solids present in the process on account of the smallchannel diameter is a great challenge.

Since solids, e.g. in the form of a heterogeneous catalyst, or insolublereaction products, are present in many process engineering processes aswanted or unwanted components, the handling of suspended solids can bean additional requirement of the process equipment.

In practice, the defined requirement profile can most easily be achievedby a cascade of series-connected, continuously operated stirred tanks.Under certain conditions, however, a more compact structure of theapparatus may be necessary. Such an application case is, e.g.,installation into compact, modular production plants.

It is further known that the defined requirement profile can also be metin particular applications by subdividing a flow tube into a pluralityof compartments, each of which are mixed by suitable agitators and areconnected to one another via openings.

However, the performance ability of such an apparatus depends greatly onthe operating conditions. A high agitator rotary speed, long residencetimes and large openings between the individual compartments lead to ahigher degree of back-mixing and therefore to a wider residence timedistribution (e.g. L. Zhang, Q. Pan, G. L. Rempel, Residence TimeDistribution in a Multistage Agitated Contactor with Newtonian Fluids:CFD Prediction and Experimental Validation: Industrial & EngineeringChemistry Research, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 46 2007, 3538-3546.).

Such apparatuses are widely used, especially in extraction technology.In theory, the back mixing can be minimized by using very small openingsbetween adjoining compartments. However, in this case the pressure dropin the apparatus increases and the discharge of solids is no longerpossible, and so this measure is frequently unsuitable for practicaluse.

The use of a cascaded tube in the reaction technique is described, forexample, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,470 (DE 32 13 628 A1). The subjectmatter is a contact device which is a vertical long cylindrical housinghaving closed ends that is subdivided into a plurality of individualchambers by horizontal baffle plates and having access from one chamberto another via concentric circular openings that are axially centered inthe baffle walls, having a continuously rotatable shaft that extendsconcentrically to the baffle walls within the housing, having at leastone agitator appliance that is fixed to the shaft in each chamber,wherein the shaft in the circular openings forms ring-shaped openings inthe baffle walls, in such a manner that the ratio of the back-flowextent to the feed extent through the openings is less than 1.5. Adescription is also given of a process for the continuous preparation ofarylene sulfide polymers, in which reaction components that are suitablefor the preparation of poly(arylene sulfide) are fed into at least onefirst chamber of the above described contact vessel, as a result ofwhich a reaction mixture is formed that is conducted through thechambers of the contact device, while each chamber is maintained underconditions for the formation of arylene sulfide polymers, and arylenesulfide polymer is obtained from a chamber that is situated remote fromthe chamber into which the starting reaction components are introduced.The achievable degree of backmixing in such apparatuses is frequentlytoo high for applications that require a very narrow residence timedistribution; in particular, if the reactor volume is low (some litersor less) and the implementable number of stages is therefore restricted.

WO 2006/126891 (EP 1 904 225) discloses, for example, a cylindricalreactor for the continuous treatment of a stirred material compositionthat comprises at least two components, comprising a number of reactorchambers that are arranged in a primarily vertical column, separated bybase plates, while the transport of the material composition from anydesired reactor chamber in the steady state is arranged in order toproceed to the adjoining chamber below, wherein each reactor chamber isprovided with a vane mechanism. The vane mechanism comprises aring-shaped member that is concentric to the reactor chamber and has avertical elongation and at least one movable agitator member that isarranged in order to induce a vertical movement component in thematerial in the chamber. The transport is arranged from one chamber tothe next chamber in order to take place periodically through an openinghaving a slider flap in the base plate of each chamber. However, such anapparatus has the disadvantage that an additional movable part and, inassociation therewith, a seal also, needs to be provided at eachchamber.

Cascaded tube installations having elongated gaps for decreasing thebackmixing are described in the following publications: J. R. Couper,Chemical process equipment: Selection and design, 2nd ed., Elsevier,Amsterdam, Boston, 2005, pp. 307-315 and B. C. Xu, W. R. Penney, J. B.Fasano, Interstage Backmixing for Single-Phase Systems in Compartmented,Agitated Columns: Design Correlations, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 44 (2005)6103-6109.

For abrasive systems in particular, it is desirable to provide a morerobust solution in terms of apparatus of the described formulation ofthe problem. In addition, it is desirable to make the apparatus designas flexible as possible in such a manner that use is possible withdiffering systems and under differing process conditions. In this case,the flexibility term comprises not only the property of changing thetotal volume of the reactor in a flexible manner, but also exchangingindividual elements such as agitators or baffles to optimize thegeometry for a particular application.

SUMMARY

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whichcombines said requirements. Preferably, said apparatus in additionprovides a specific heat-exchange surface area which is as high aspossible.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a reactionchamber for a chemical reactor, comprising a casing of the reactionchamber, a floor of the reaction chamber having an opening located inthe floor, and an agitator shaft located in the chamber and having atleast one agitator element, connected thereto, wherein the agitatorshaft, seen in the longitudinal direction, has a beginning and an end.In addition in the opening of the floor a removable sleeve is provided,which projects out of the reaction chamber, the sleeve is arranged inalignment with the axis of rotation of the agitator shaft, the internaldiameter of the sleeve is greater than the diameter of the agitatorshaft and the agitator shaft, at the beginning thereof and/or at the endthereof, is adapted to absorb reversibly a torque provided by means of afurther shaft and/or to transmit a torque to a further shaft.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

By means of a multiplicity of reaction chambers according to theinvention, a chemical reactor can be built up in a modular manner and beflexibly adapted to changing requirements. The reaction chamberaccording to the invention can of course be used not only for chemicalreactions in the narrow sense, but also for example for extractions andthe like.

The “casing of the reaction chamber” is that part of the reactor chamberwhich, in the case of a vertical reaction chamber, is the lateralboundary of the chamber interior to the outside world. In the case of acylindrical or cylinder-like reaction chamber, it is then the cylindercasing. Accordingly, the “floor of the reaction chamber” is the lowerboundary, seen in the vertical direction, of the chamber interior to theoutside world.

Following the concept of modular usability, in the reaction chamberthere is already one agitator shaft having at least one agitatorelement, connected thereto, to agitate the contents of the reactionchamber. Both radially and tangentially demanding agitation elements canbe used. The agitating elements can also be made to be detachable fromthe agitator shaft and therefore exchangeable.

Furthermore, additional internals can be present in the reactionchamber. These meet two main purposes. Firstly, they serve as bafflesand prevent the co-rotation of the liquid in the apparatus and supportan intensive mixing, secondly, they support an axial and radial bearingmounting of the agitator shaft. Owing to the modular structure, therapid adaptation to various material systems is realizable. For example,in a system of relatively high viscosity, without great expenditure, thebaffles can be adapted and anchor agitators can be used.

A fixed upper boundary of the chamber interior to the outside world,also understood as a “lid”, is not absolutely necessary for the reactionchamber according to the invention. This is because a plurality ofreaction chambers can be stacked one above the other (and are intendedto be, in order to form the further chemical reactor according to theinvention that is described hereinafter) and the floor of the onereaction chamber can act as a lid of the chamber lying therebeneath.

The floor of the reaction chamber according to the invention in additionhas an opening. Through this opening, agitator shafts can be conductedout of the interior of the reaction chamber and in addition substancescan be introduced into the chamber or discharged from the chamber. Atthe beginning and/or the end of the agitator shaft, said agitator shaftis designed to absorb or transmit a torque. Preferably it is aredetachable shape-fit connection. This can be implemented, for example,using a simple push-fit connection such as a hexagon. In this manner, inthe case of reaction chambers according to the invention that arestacked one above the other, a shared agitator shaft can be provided forall reaction chambers.

The reaction chamber according to the invention in addition has adetachable sleeve, which is arranged in the opening of the floor. In thegeometric aspect, the sleeve (and therefore also the opening of thefloor of the reaction chamber) are arranged in alignment with the axisof rotation of the agitator shaft, in order that, in the case of theabovementioned reaction chambers stacked one above the other, acontinuous agitator shaft can be obtained.

Furthermore, the internal diameter of the sleeve is greater than thediameter of the agitator shaft (of course, agitator elements mounted onthe agitator shaft are not taken into account when the diameter isdetermined). Then, even when an agitator shaft is conducted through theopening and sleeve, a mass transfer can take place between chambersstacked one above the other. Preferably, the difference between theinternal diameter of the sleeve and the diameter of the agitator shaftis >0 mm to ≤10 mm, more preferably ≥1 mm to ≤8 mm, and particularlypreferably ≥2 mm to ≤7 mm. Owing to the fact that the sleeve isremovable, for any reaction system, the mass transfer through theopening between sleeve and agitator shaft can be adapted individually.

As a result of the fact that the sleeve projects out of the reactionchamber, it ensures a decreased backmixing between the contents of thereaction chamber thereof and the contents of the subsequent reactionchamber into which it in turn projects. The extent to which the sleeveprojects through the opening from the reaction chamber can be, forexample ≥10% to ≤200%, more preferably ≥20% to ≤150%, and particularlypreferably ≥30% to ≤100% of the internal diameter thereof, in each casemeasured from the lower side of the floor.

Further embodiments and aspects of the present invention are describedhereinafter. They can be combined in any way with one another, providedthat the contrary does not clearly result from the context.

In an embodiment of the reaction chamber according to the invention theagitator shaft is conducted out of the reaction chamber through thesleeve in such a manner that it projects out of the reaction chamber anda gap is formed between agitator shaft and sleeve.

Preferably, the gap between agitator shaft and sleeve has a widthfrom >0 mm to ≤5 mm. The values are preferably from ≥0.5 mm to ≤4 mm andparticularly preferably ≥1 mm to ≤3.5 mm.

In a further embodiment of the reaction chamber according to theinvention, the floor has an inclination to the horizontal of >0° to≤60°. Preferred inclinations are >5° to ≤50°, more preferably >10° to≤45°. Such a tapering of the chamber floor serves to support a solidtransport within the reaction chamber. In addition, the corners at whichthe floor abuts the casing, can be rounded.

In a further embodiment of the reaction chamber according to theinvention the casing and the floor of the reaction chamber areconstructed jointly as heating and/or cooling casing. This permits, forexample, via a double-walled structure with a cavity, for acontinuous-flow heating or cooling medium to be achieved. Thisembodiment generally has the advantage that a specific heat-transfersurface area which is as large as possible can be provided: the heatingor cooling proceeds not only via the side walls, but also via the floorsof the chamber. To maximize the outer heat-transfer coefficient, theinflow in the cavity can proceed tangentially, in such a manner that theentire flow of the heating or cooling medium is offset in rotation and ahigh relative velocity between wall and heating or cooling medium isachieved. The inflow velocity can be adapted by varying the diameter ofthe corresponding connections.

In a further embodiment of the reaction chamber according to theinvention the agitator shaft is received within the reaction chamber bya bearing that is supported within the reaction chamber.

In a further embodiment of the reaction chamber according to theinvention, the sleeve comprises a polymeric material. Suitable materialsare, in particular, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyolefins suchas polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

Flat chambers offer advantages to achieve a high specific surface areaand a high number of stages in a small structure. However, chambers thatare too flat suppress the formation of vortexes and thus preventeffective mixing. In a further embodiment of the reaction chamberaccording to the invention, therefore, the chamber has a ratio of heightto diameter of ≥0.4:1 to ≤1:1. The diameter in this case is taken tomean the internal diameter of the chamber and the internal height,measured from the lowest point within the chamber vertically up to thehighest point within the chamber. Preferred ratios of chamber height todiameter are ≥0.5:1 to ≤0.9:1, and more preferably ≥0.6:1 to ≤0.8:1. Thechamber internal diameter is, for example, between 2 and 15 cm.

In a further embodiment of the reaction chamber according to theinvention, said reaction chamber in addition comprises additional feedsand/or outlets, through which substances can be introduced and/ordischarged. Additional feeds and/or outlets can be desirable in order toadd not all of the reaction components at the beginning of the reactor,but along the reactor. In this manner, for example undesirable sidereactions or secondary reactions in a chemical reaction can besuppressed. Similarly, it can be desirable to separate off substancesthat are formed.

A further aspect of the present invention is a chemical reactor, whereinthe reactor comprises a multiplicity of reaction chambers according tothe present invention, wherein at least one first reaction chamber andone second reaction chamber are arranged following one another and theagitator shaft for the first reaction chamber is connected to theagitator shaft of the second reaction chamber to transmit a torque.

Preferably, 2 to 20 individual reaction chambers are used. It is furtherpossible that a plurality of reaction chambers are connected to oneanother by additional feeds and/or outlets.

The invention further relates to a process for carrying out a chemicalreaction, wherein the reaction is carried out in a reactor according tothe present invention.

In an embodiment of the process according to the invention the reactionis carried out at least intermittently with a constant amount ofsubstances introduced into the reactor and discharged from the reactor.

In a further embodiment of the process according to the invention, inthe stirred reactor there are arranged, following one another, a firstreaction chamber according to the invention comprising additional feedsand/or outlets through which substances can be introduced and/ordischarged and a second reaction chamber according to the inventioncomprising additional feeds and/or outlets through which substances canbe introduced and/or discharged. Furthermore, the agitator shaft of thefirst reaction chamber is connected to the agitator shaft of the secondreaction chamber for transmitting a torque and in the first and/orsecond reaction chamber, at least one operating state is monitored, at apredetermined deviation of the operating state from a predeterminedvalue of this operating state, the feeds opening out into this reactionchamber are closed and the substances originally transported throughthese feeds are introduced into another reaction chamber.

In this case, it is preferred that the monitored operating state is thepressure drop from one reaction chamber to the adjacent reactionchamber.

This reaction procedure permits a reaction chamber to be shut down inthe event of blockages and other faults, and to pass the materialstreams in the reactor round this chamber. Thus, the reaction can becarried on at a following site.

In a further embodiment of the process according to the invention, thereaction is a multiphase reaction. This includes, for example, not onlyliquid/liquid systems, but also solid/liquid systems.

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference tothe figures hereinafter, without being limited thereto. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a reaction chamber according to the invention in a viewfrom the top and in cross section

FIG. 2 shows a multiplicity of reaction chambers according to theinvention stacked one above the other in cross section

FIG. 3 shows a chemical reactor according to the invention

FIG. 1 shows a reaction chamber according to the invention in a combinedview having a plan view (upper part of the figure) and a side crosssectional view (lower part of the figure). The reaction chamber has acasing 100, a floor 200 inclined in this case at 33°, and also anopening 300 in the floor 200. The casing 100 and the floor 200 areconstructed jointly as heating and cooling casing. For this purpose, adouble-shell construction having a second casing 110 and a second floor210 is used, which contains a cavity 120. Through this cavity 120, aheating or cooling medium for heat exchange can be conducted by means ofinlets and outlets that are not shown here. The chamber floor is alsoheated or cooled thereby and not only the casing as in many conventionalstructures of kettle reactors.

The reaction chamber in addition has an agitator shaft 400 for drivingagitator elements 500. The beginning 600 of the agitator shaft 400 isshown at the top in FIG. 1, and the end 700 at the bottom. Beginning 600and end 700 of the agitator shaft 400 are designed as female and male,respectively, connectors or plug-in connections, in such a manner thatwhen a plurality of reaction chambers are stacked one above the otherthe agitator shafts of two successive reaction chambers engage in oneanother in a form-fitting manner in the direction of rotation. Then theyform a combined agitator shaft with which the agitator elements of theindividual chambers can be driven.

Within the reaction chamber, the agitator shaft 400 is received by abearing 1000, which itself is supported via corresponding supports 1100in the reaction chamber. In addition, within the reaction chamber,baffles 1200 are present which, in interaction with agitator elements500, ensure a relatively high mixing of the reactor contents.

In the opening 300 of the floor 200 of the reaction chamber, in additionthere is a removable sleeve 800 which (as shown at the bottom here)projects out of the reaction chamber. The sleeve 800 is arranged inalignment with the axis of rotation of the agitator shaft 600. In FIG.1, sleeve and axis of rotation are centered in the reaction chamber.

The internal diameter of the sleeve 800 is greater than the diameter ofthe agitator shaft 400 at the height of the sleeve 800. In addition, theagitator shaft 400 projects through the sleeve 800 out of the reactionchamber. As a result, a gap 900 is formed between agitator shaft 400 andsleeve 800, through which gap, in the case of a plurality of reactionchambers stacked one above the other, a mass transfer can take placebetween one chamber and the adjacent chamber.

To increase the versatility and modularity of the use of the reactionchambers according to the invention, not only is the sleeve 800detachable, but also the agitator shaft 400, the bearing 500, thesupport 1100 and the baffle 1200, and therefore are usable for otherstructures adapted to a specific application case.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of three reaction chambers accordingto the invention stacked one above the other, as can occur in a chemicalreactor according to the invention. The individual chambers are as shownand explained in FIG. 1. As may be seen, the reaction chambers aredesigned in such a manner that the bottom seal of one chamber forms theupper seal of the chamber lying therebeneath. As a result, a chemicalreactor may be made up in a modular manner. Obviously, a sealingcomposition can also further be provided between the individual reactionchambers.

The agitator shafts 400 engaging in one another in a form-fitting mannerin the direction of rotation form, as related to transmission of atorque, a combined agitator shaft. In this case, it can be noted thatshear forces also occur in the gap 900, which is formed between agitatorshaft 400 and sleeve 800 and through which a mass transfer can takeplace between adjacent reaction chambers. Therefore, there is no “deadzone” in which the contents of the reaction chamber are not thoroughlyagitated.

The width of the gap 900 and therefore the mass transfer between theindividual reaction chambers may be established by means of the diameterof the agitator shaft and/or the internal diameter of the sleeves 800.For practical reasons, it is preferred only to exchange the sleeves 800if another gap width between the chambers is desired. Owing to the factthat the sleeves 800 are removable, this is effected in a simple manner.

FIG. 3 shows schematically a chemical reactor according to the inventionwith a total of seven reaction chambers according to the invention. Thereaction chambers are stacked one above the other in a similar manner tothe arrangement shown in FIG. 2 and are sealed at top and bottom with acover plate 2000 and base plate 2010. The arrangement is mechanicallystabilized by means of tie rods 2100 and nuts 2110.

A torque for driving the agitator shafts is transmitted by means ofcoupling 2200 to the agitator shafts in the interior of the chemicalreactor. In the cover plate 2000, in addition accesses 2300 and 2310 arearranged, through which substances or measuring sensors can beintroduced into the topmost reaction chamber. Such an access 2320 isalso located at the outlet 2400 which is integrated into the base plate2010.

Via the feed lines 2500 and the outlets 2510, the heating/coolingcasings of the individual reaction chambers can be provided with aheating or cooling medium. An individual heating or cooling is possible.

The individual reaction chambers are accessible via accesses 2600 and2610 for material introduction, material discharge and measuringsensors. Via a suitably chosen piping installation, in addition, abridging of a reaction chamber can be achieved, if a fault occurs duringrunning operation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A reaction chamber for a chemical reactor,comprising: a first casing of the reaction chamber, a first floor of thereaction chamber connected to the first casing and having an openinglocated in the floor, an agitator shaft located in the chamber andhaving at least one agitator element connected thereto, wherein theagitator shaft, seen in the longitudinal direction, has a beginning andan end, a removable sleeve having a first open end and an opposingsecond open end, wherein the second opposing open end projects out ofthe opening in the first floor of the reaction chamber, wherein theremovable sleeve is arranged in alignment with the axis of rotation ofthe agitator shaft, wherein the internal diameter of the removablesleeve is greater than the diameter of the agitator shaft, wherein theagitator shaft extends through the first open end and the opposingsecond open end of the removable sleeve out of the reaction chamber andforming a gap between the agitator shaft and the inner wall of theremovable sleeve, and, wherein each of the beginning and end of theagitator shaft is adapted to attach to an end or a beginning of a secondagitator shaft, respectively.
 2. The reaction chamber as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the first floor has an inclination to the horizontalof >0° to ≤60°.
 3. The reaction chamber as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a second floor and a second casing wherein the first casing,the first floor, the second casing and the second floor of the reactionchamber are together configured as a double wall enclosing a cavitywherein constructed the cavity contains a heating and/or cooling fluid.4. The reaction chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the agitatorshaft is received within the reaction chamber by a bearing that issupported within the reaction chamber.
 5. The reaction chamber asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the sleeve comprises a polymeric material.6. The reaction chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chamber has aratio of height to diameter of ≥0.4:1 to ≤1:1.
 7. The reaction chamberas claimed in claim 1, wherein the gap between agitator shaft and sleevehas a width from >0 mm to ≤5 mm.
 8. The reaction chamber as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising additional feeds and/or outlets, throughwhich substances can be introduced and/or discharged respectively.
 9. Achemical reactor, wherein the reactor comprises a plurality of reactionchambers as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one first reactionchamber and at least one second reaction chamber are arranged one abovethe other; wherein the second opposing end of the removable sleeve ofeach a least one first reaction chamber positioned above a lowerreaction chamber extends into the second reaction chamber directly belowthe at least one first reaction chamber; wherein the end of the agitatorshaft of each at least one first reaction chamber is attached to thebeginning of the agitator shaft of the at least one second reactionchamber directly below it; and, wherein the attached agitator shaft ofeach of the at least one first reaction chamber absorbs reversibly atorque provided by means of the agitator shaft of the at least onesecond reaction chamber and/or transmits a torque to a shaft attached toanother at least one second reaction chamber.
 10. The chemical reactorof claim 9 wherein at least one of the plurality of chemical reactorsfurther comprises a second casing and a second floor wherein the firstcasing, the first floor, the second casing, and the second floor of theat least one reaction chamber are together configured as a double wallenclosing a cavity wherein the cavity contains a heating and/or coolingfluid.
 11. A reaction chamber for a chemical reactor, comprising: afirst casing of the reaction chamber, a first floor of the reactionchamber connected to the casing and having an opening located in thefloor, an agitator shaft located in the chamber and having at least oneagitator element connected thereto, wherein the agitator shaft, seen inthe longitudinal direction, has a beginning and an end, a removablesleeve having a first opening and an opposing second opening, whereinthe second opposing opening projects out of the opening in the firstfloor of the reaction chamber, wherein the removable sleeve is arrangedin alignment with the axis of rotation of the agitator shaft, whereinthe internal diameter of the removable sleeve is greater than thediameter of the agitator shaft, wherein the agitator shaft extendsthrough the first opening and the opposing second opening of theremovable sleeve out of the reaction chamber through the sleeve andforming a gap between the agitator shaft and the removable sleeve, and,wherein each of the beginning and end of the agitator shaft is adaptedto reversibly attach to a beginning or an end of a second agitatorshaft; and, wherein the first floor has an inclination to the horizontalof >0° to ≤60°.
 12. The reaction chamber as claimed in claim 11, furthercomprising a second floor and a second casing, wherein the first casing,the first floor, the second casing, and the second floor of the reactionchamber are together configured as a double wall enclosing a cavitywherein the cavity contains a heating and/or cooling fluid.
 13. Thereaction chamber as claimed in claim 11, wherein the agitator shaft isreceived within the reaction chamber by a bearing that is supportedwithin the reaction chamber.
 14. The reaction chamber as claimed inclaim 11, wherein the chamber has a ratio of height to diameter of≥0.4:1 to ≤1:1.
 15. The reaction chamber as claimed in claim 11, whereinthe gap between agitator shaft and sleeve has a width from >0 mm to ≤5mm.
 16. The reaction chamber as claimed in claim 11, further comprisingadditional feeds and/or outlets, through which substances can beintroduced and/or discharged, respectively.
 17. A chemical reactor,wherein the reactor comprises a plurality of reaction chambers asclaimed in claim 11, wherein at least one first reaction chamber and atleast one second reaction chamber are arranged one above the other;wherein the second opposing end of the removable sleeve of each at leastone first reaction chamber extends into one second reaction chamber;wherein the end of the agitator shaft of each at least one firstreaction chamber is attached to the beginning of the agitator shaft ofthe second reaction chamber directly below it; and, wherein the attachedagitator shaft of each of the at least one first reaction chamberabsorbs reversibly a torque provided by means of the agitator shaft ofthe at least one second reaction chamber and/or transmits a torque to ashaft attached to another at least one second reaction chamber.
 18. Thechemical reactor of claim 17 wherein at least one of the plurality ofreaction chambers further comprises a second floor and a second casingwherein the first casing, the first floor, the second casing, and thesecond floor of the at least one reaction chamber are togetherconfigured as a double wall enclosing a cavity wherein the cavitycontains a heating and/or cooling fluid.
 19. The chemical reactor ofclaim 17 wherein at least one of the plurality of chemical reactorsfurther comprises additional feeds and/or outlets, through whichsubstances can be introduced and/or discharged, respectively.